Minister's column: Praying for the city

Published: Friday, October 26, 2012 at 11:39 PM.

“In moments like these we give thanks for the true, the beautiful and the good to which you have called us, O Lord of Faith.

“In moments like these we give thanks that we cannot accomplish virtuous tasks alone and we need each other and especially you, O Lord of Love.

“In moments like these we remember that we are not always leaning in the right direction, or always moving toward your preferred future, or even aligned as friends, so we come seeking forgiveness and trusting in you, O Lord of Forgiveness.

“O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, be thou our guide while life shall last, and our eternal home. Amen and amen.”

The Rev. Allen Bingham is pastor of Queen Street United Methodist Church. He can be reached at allen@queenstreetchurch.org and www.allenbingham.com.

In recent weeks, you may have seen folks talking to themselves as they walked in your neighborhood. They may have been talking with someone with their Bluetooth enabled telephone. Or they may have been praying for you and your family.

The Association of Congregations asked their sister organizations to actively pray for Kinston and Lenoir County this October. Maps of the county were distributed around town and people have been praying for you and your neighbors every day this month.

This year we are closing this prayer for our community with a worship celebration Nov. 4 to celebrate Kinston’s 250th anniversary. Several years ago, I offered an invocation at Kinston’s celebration of being named an All-American City. I wonder if you might continue praying it with me now.

“O God, our help in ages past, when people named Caswell, Gordon, Bright, McLewean, Shrine, Dobbs and Herritage came to the intersection of King and Queen in 1762 to form a city, who knew then the plans that you laid out for them as they moved out to the north, south and east with the Neuse at their backs to the west? You saw us through years of growth and periods of decline, times of war and times of peace, moments of laughter and seasons of mourning, gathered us in Grainger Stadium and a Grand Theater, churches and synagogues, and drew us to the Magic Mile.

“O God, our hope for years to come, we come at a time of great celebration praying for the welfare and prosperity of our city. Give Kinston not only the pure water of the artesian well, but the purity of drink derived from our human efforts; give Kinston not only the “little by little” efforts we make for our children, but the greater dreams you have for each of them; give Kinston not only the rejection of the gang life, but the acceptance of a citizen’s life.

“O God, be thou our guide while life shall last, we come anticipating a day when the young shall see visions and the old shall dream dreams. We come seeking the wisdom of the one who created us in your self-image so that we might live as your sons and daughters, as sisters and brothers in your world. Teach us your wisdom and guard our paths so that we might come to follow in the Way, the Truth and the Life that you hold before us.

“O God, our eternal home, in moments like these we give thanks that you put lifetime-sized dreams before us knowing that those dreams might or might not be completed in our time, but in your time all things are possible O Lord of Hope.

“In moments like these we give thanks for the true, the beautiful and the good to which you have called us, O Lord of Faith.

“In moments like these we give thanks that we cannot accomplish virtuous tasks alone and we need each other and especially you, O Lord of Love.

“In moments like these we remember that we are not always leaning in the right direction, or always moving toward your preferred future, or even aligned as friends, so we come seeking forgiveness and trusting in you, O Lord of Forgiveness.

“O God our help in ages past, our hope for years to come, be thou our guide while life shall last, and our eternal home. Amen and amen.”

The Rev. Allen Bingham is pastor of Queen Street United Methodist Church. He can be reached at allen@queenstreetchurch.org and www.allenbingham.com.